to expect horse (and rider) to reverse for me!

[AliBingo]

Genuinely puzzled here- I live down a single-track lane which is very narrow and windy so you have to drive slowly, anyway I met a horse-rider when I went out earlier.

Where we met, the rider was just past a field gateway passing place - the horse was about halfway past it, so its back legs and the saddle, and the rider herself, were still alongside the passing place. I stopped in plenty of time (couple of car lengths away) and waited for them to get into the passing place.

I waited and after about 30 seconds, rider did a hand gesture to indicate that I was to reverse! I duly reversed about 200 feet back down the lane and then sat waiting for about a minute while the rider proceeded to the passing place alongside me.

She looked a bit grumpy and didn't thank me, presumably because I hadn't reversed straightaway. But I had expected her to go into passing place!

So I am now wondering if it's not even possible to get a horse to back up/turn around/reverse etc - can you tell that I know nothing about horses!

WIBU to expect them to go into the passing place practically next to them, or does car etiquette not apply when the other vehicle is a horse!

Thanks!

I'll change the picture . Hold that thought , but am technofuckwit so it might be the same picture several times !

Coming from a western riding background, and having learnt to train horses in the States, I'm pretty horrified that so many English riders consider reversing to be some sort of advanced exercise. A well trained western horse will reverse as easily as it goes forward, and it will stand still when required as well. That should be the norm for any horse that is being ridden on the road, but amazingly in the UK it often isn't. Then piss-poor riders make excuses for their own incompetence and blame it on the horse...
Similarly, in most circumstances a rider should be able to turn their horse around and put it in a nearby layby to wait! How the hell some people think they are safe to be riding out is beyond me.
Having said that, there are some circumstances where a rider might ask a driver for a bit of tolerance, and it's great if drivers can oblige. In that situation much grateful thanks should be expresed by the rider, waving, smiling, mouthing "thanks" - whatever it takes to keep the driver happy and leave them with a positive attitude towards the next rider they meet.

While we're on the subject of safe road riding / etiquette / whatever, what do you horsey types think about the use of mobiles on a horse, on a road?

think.direct.gov.uk/horses.html Horses]] on the roads info here

sorry

You were a bit unreasonable , because AFAIK, horses like pedestrians have right of way, but rarely do car drivers realise this.

As others have said, some horses can be young, green, nervy around traffic, not able to back up.

I think it's common sense (and kind manners) here to think -- well, who can be hurt most? And it's the horse & rider. It is far less effort for a driver to reverse & let a horse & rider go by than to calm a nervous horse while a car whizzes past.

And if you are driving down a country lane, then you should expect always to give way to horses, cattle, and pedestrians.

Right . Have random picture of the spoilt Danish Warm blood and nutty Arab on profile now . The smaller one was perfectly fine in the heaviest traffic , having even met two fire engines in full cry coming round a blind bend (and didn't they panic! ) , she was just easier to keep moving forward .

And here

This horsey 'type ' - whatever that means - thinks its as bad as using one whilst driving . Possibly worse in fact as being in charge of a living breathing unpredictable creature on public roads means you should be concentrating fully . I wouldn't disable my hearing by using a phone whilst riding . Hearing is what warns me something's coming up behind me round that bend , and hasn't seen me yet .

Not read all the replies.

A horse will back up, however she may not have wanted to because there might have been something in/around that gate which may have meant that the horse might have spooked, and knowing horses it would happen just as you were passing her! Or the horse could have been a fidget and getting it to back up and then stand still might have been a struggle and battle therefore making your passing hazardous for both parties.

However, it would not have hurt her to trot on to the next passing place or to the end of the lane (assuming the horse was fit and well to trot on concrete).

Not thanking you is plain bloody rude and does my bloody nut in. It does not take any time at all to raise your hand, crack a smile, mouth or yell a thank you. Even if your horse is pratting about you can still nod your head and smile if you can't take your hands off the reins.

Not all riders are selfish. Honest.

I wouldn't use my phone on horseback on a road. Same as I hate people smoking and riding.

If the horse and the rider weren't confident enough to be able to be considerate to other road users, they shouldn't have been on the road. It's that simple IMO. There are plenty of places that horse can be ridden, and people riding their horses on the road are usually doing it for fun anyway. Cars have to be on the road, and cars are often a necessity. Therefore both have equal priority. The horse rider doesn't get to dictate what the car driver does.

There is no way I would have reversed down a windy single track road to accommodate a horse and it's rude rider. What if a car had been coming down the road behind too fast?

Agree with Clouds.

i would have been very tempted to hoot after reversing 200yds down a lane with no thanks :D

Are you for a Tesco Lasagna Sarah - can't think what else on this thread?

'Cars have to be on the road, and cars are often a necessity. Therefore both have equal priority. The horse rider doesn't get to dictate what the car driver does. '

Errr no. Cars don't have priority nor are they driven for life and death emergencies all the time. Riders, cyclists and pedestrians all have priority. Ignorant car drivers just think they have. The government advice is that drivers should obey instructions given by riders.

'What if a car had been coming down the road behind too fast?' Well nobody should be driving on that sort of road 'too fast' should they? The speedy driver could round a bend and drive in to the horse for a start. That's absurd. You can't to do something safe as a driver because somebody might be doing something unsafe. By that logic nobody would ever reverse at all - or stop at roundabouts because somebody might be coming up behind them too fast.

Drooling at Plo's Warmblood.

Lazy, do that and you'll have a horse/rider land on your bonnet soon enough.

Lazeyjaeny - have you read either of the links below? That will explain to you why your comment is not very sensible.

Sarah

He's very spoilt - has a crown and a wave as his brand mark , so thinks he's entitled to staff ! Little bugger's standing by the gate waiting to come in for his tea and pyjamas .

Quite right too. I do miss mine so much.

Persuasion Can horses really not stand on crisps packets? Why not? Every day's a school day, particularly on MN...!

YABVU.

Learn your Highway Code. Horses have right of way over motor vehicles in this country. I expect riders are fed up of the number of people who don't realise this.

That would have failed you your driving test and rightly so.

[I am not a horse rider!]

Cars don't have priority nor are they driven for life and death emergencies all the time. Riders, cyclists and pedestrians all have priority. Ignorant car drivers just think they have. The government advice is that drivers should obey instructions given by riders

Learn your Highway Code. Horses have right of way over motor vehicles in this country. I expect riders are fed up of the number of people who don't realise this

Thanks to you both for confirming that, as it's what I was taught.

Depends on the horse dojo ... if horses are habituated properly the will stand on anything lol.

Any horse , like any person , can and will get a fright if something suddenly flies at us...our last " oops " was a doberman hitting a wooden gate three feet from us when we did not know dog was there. I jumped more than the horse lol

But most horses can be taught that crisp packets, newspapers, plastic bottles and any other noisy stuff....will not harm them.

It does take time and patience and many horse owners are too busy with "important " stuff like dressage and jumping and competitions. .... or just don't think its possible and accept that "horses are flighty". Well yes they are flight animals and all drivers should be aware they can be startled of course. ..no excuse to not train horses better though, even if its just so they can relax more.

Horses CAN stand on crisp packets, but lots think shiney blowing around things in an otherwise empty lane are obviously the work of the devil and will do anything to avoid like the plague. VERY suddenly sometimes too.